the jump was scheduled for tomorrow. but it has been postponed a day due to projected high winds. before we get out of here, breaking news. venezuela's president, again, hugo chavez, announced just moments ago, from the election commission. early start tomorrow morning. see you next week. good night. a taste of winter in october. temperatures dip below freezing. shattering records. this is across the country. campaign reset. has mitt romney upended this race? what we're learning from a key swing state this morning. and a wedding to remember for all the wrong reasons. a wild brawl breaks out in front of the bride. it is all caught on camera. what a terrible way to begin a marriage. good morning to you. i'm zoraida sambolin.

>> and i'm john berman. we begin with props. why? we're talking about the weather. it is freaking cold out here. this calendar says october 12th. but forget this. it's freezing. in a huge chunk of the country. >> it is cold out there. the cold snap is gripping two-thirds of the country. dozens of cities saw record lows. including sioux city, iowa, bottoming out at 15. scottsbluff, nebraska, 21 degrees. and tulsa, oklahoma, scraping the freezing mark at 32 degrees. >> all this despite the fact that that calendar i held up says october. it is awful. but there's warmth or light at the end of the tunnel. we're going to bring in alexandra steele. when is the warmth coming? you still use a calendar? good morning, everyone.

a lot of you, millions of you, seeing the cold this weekend, thus far of the season. a lot of you having your first snow. they gave you numbers. how about 10 in nebraska in champion. these were low temperatures yesterday morning. and about 270 -- 270 states and cities had yesterday, their record low warm temperatures. and then, on saturday, they had 250 record low high temperatures, as well. across the board, incredibly chilly. record low temperatures in springfield, missouri, 47. your high temperature should be 68 degrees. on the average, running about 20 degrees below average yesterday. st. louis, 68, should be your high temperature, only in the 50s. we're going to see a rollercoaster the next few days. freeze theat. here's where we're going to see it. northern plains, northeast, all the way down into texas. on the whole, we're running about a week and a half to two weeks, for places like ohio, to see the first freeze warnings.

temperatures, well coming in colder. well below earlier than they should be. temperatures today, only this morning starting in the 30s and 40s, guys. and will be rising for the balance, into the 50s and 60s. we promise you a warm-up. >> i'm going to hold you to that. thank you, alexandra steele. this is no way to celebrate columbus day. there's no columbus day off for the political candidates. president obama attended a number of fund raisers. last night, he was at a concert in los angeles. today, mitt romney delivers what his campaign is calling a major foreign policy speech in virginia. yesterday, he was in florida, a key swing state. late their week, the running mates duke it out in their debate. joe biden and paul ryan face off in the only vice presidential

debate in kentucky. and a new poll by the university of denver, where last week's presidential debate was held, gives president obama a slight edge over mitt romney in colorado, a key swing state. 47% to 43%. paul steinhauser joins us live now. what do you make of all this? >> reporter: the new poll numbers. those are pretty much in line, john, with what we saw prior to the debate. other polls conducted in colorado, as you mentioned, a key battleground state, where the president had a slight edge, same story. this new university of denver poll. among independents, the president has a double-digit lead. when are we going to see more polls? you're going to see a bunch over the next 48 hours the next couple of days leading up to the vice presidential debate. a bunch of major organizations, including cnn, are in the field right now. in key battleground states and with national surveys, john. >> the president coming off of the heels of what many are considering a lackluster debate

performance. even he was poking fun at it over the weekend at his hollywood fund-raiser. >> and everybody here, incredible professionals. they're such great friends. they just performed flawlessly, night after night. i can't always say the same. >> a little joke right there. how is the president turning things around? >> reporter: the campaign says he's preparing for a different kind of debate. and they say they were taken aback. the president was taken aback, with what mitt romney walking away from his previous positions in that first debate in denver. here's david axelrod, a senior adviser for the president on the sunday talk shows. >> i think he was taken aback at the brazenness with which governor romney walked away from so many of the positions on which he's run. walked away from his record. and that's something we're going to have to make an adjustment

for in these subsequent debates. >> reporter: now, john, the next debate, among the presidential candidates is very different. it's a town hall format. and it will be moderated by candy crowley. it should be a different format. and a more aggressive president obama. >> there's no question about that. meanwhile, there is news on tap for today. mitt romney giving what his campaign is calling a big foreign policy speech. another one. we get a preview of it overnight. there's excerpts. let me read you one. he says, i believe that america does not lead -- if america does not lead, others will. others who do not share our interests and our values. and the world will grow darker for our friends and for us. america's security and the cause of freedom cannot afford four more years like the last four years. paul, like i said, the romney campaign is billing this as a major foreign policy address. but in a sounds somewhat similar to what we're hearing on the trail. >> reporter: it is similar. you've seen mitt romney

criticizing the president on foreign policy. mitt romney gave a big foreign policy speech. he didn't attack the president because it was the 11th anniversary of the horrible attacks on the united states. but that night, with the attacks on the u.s. embassy in libya and egypt, mitt romney went on the attack against the president and that backfired. that's why you're going to see a more aggressive mitt romney. he gave a preview on the campaign trail in florida. >> we face a time when there's tumult in the middle east and other parts of the world. and people are asking, where's america? where's american leadership? this is a critical time. if we were to re-elect president obama, i don't think we'd measure up to the test of time. >> reporter: that was from the campaign trail in virginia on friday. remember the last presidential debate is on foreign policy. our most recent poll on foreign policy. the president has a seven-point advantage. we'll see. >> before we get to that foreign policy debate, we have the vice

presidential debate coming up thursday night. what are the expectations there's? >> reporter: i think a lot more is on the line. more is on the line for the debate because of the president's lackluster performance. both candidates talking about the big showdown in kentucky. >> i'm looking forward to it. i really am. the thing about congressman ryan is he's been straightforward up until now about everything he -- all the significant changes he wants to make. we have a fundamentally different view on a whole range of issues. >> we think he's probably going to come at me like a cannonball. more pressure because mitt romney put a performance pretty high. and there's pressure because joe biden has been doing this for 40 years. he's ran for president twice. this is my first time on this kind of a stage. >> reporter: will joe biden bring up 40%? will he bring up bain capital? >> i think it's a good, safe

bet. paul steinhauser, joining us. the only debate of the vice presidential campaign thursday night, you can watch it live on cnn and at cnn.com. join us. and this just in to cnn. gas prices right now, aaa says the national price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.82. california has the highest gas prices in the land, averaging $4.67 a gallon. california's governor, jerry brown, is taking emergency measures to ease is price at the pump. prices have spiked because of refinery outages and supply problems. he's calling for an increase in supply and an early switch to the winter fuel blend. a man dies of a heart attack after an all-out brawl. there was tension with one party and another. the brawl broke out at a bar. two men for cited for disorderly

contact. a third man police hit with a baton in this video. still in jail. the uncle of the bride died of a heart attack after this fight. >> terrible. the outbreak is growing. the number of fungal meningitis cases jumps to 91. and health officials say the outbreak is far from over. seven people have now died. investigators in massachusetts, trying to figure out the precise source of the outbreak at the facility where potentially tainted steroid injections were made. right now, the first commercial cargo flight to the international space station is on its way. >> three, two, one. >> blast off. >> and liftoff. >> yes, ladies and gentlemen. we have liftoff. the spacex rocket blasted off from cape canaveral, florida, hoisting the capsule into space with supplies for the space station. this is the first of a dozen commercial flights under contract for nasa.

saints quarterback drew brees made history, by leading his team to the first win of the season, over the san diego chargers. brees broke hall of famer johnny unitas' 52-year-old record by throwing a touchdown pass in his 48th-straight game. >> i think the amazing thing about a record like this is it spans over the course of really four seasons. and hopefully we can keep it going for a while. >> so, listen to this. brees was able to share the moment with suspended coaches sean payton and mickey loomis, who were allowed to attend that game. and drew brees will be a guest wednesday morning on "starting point." >> that's exciting. those coaches were suspended for the bounty scandal of the saints. they were allowed to watch in record being broken. that was nice for them. >> special permission. 11 minutes past the hour. and today, the voters have spoken. it was a huge test of political

power in venezuela. and hugo chavez. we're going live to caracas, coming up. ♪ my life begins today ♪ ♪ fly by night away from here ♪ ♪ change my life again ♪ ♪ fly by night, goodbye my dear ♪ ♪ my ship isn't coming ♪ and i just can't pretend oww! ♪ [ male announcer ] careful, you're no longer invisible in a midsize sedan. the volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. that's the power of german engineering. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. 14 minutes after the hour. i'm john berman. hugo chavez is not going anywhere. he endured the stiffest challenge yet. but he won his third term overnight. analysts say the results are telling, though, that chavez is weaker politically in venezuela. and there are persistent, unanswered questions about his health. whether chavez is healthy enough to complete another six years in office. supporters are marking the victory with fireworks outside of the palace. paula newton has been following the vote. she joins us live from caracas. set the scene. this must have been chaotic overnight. >> reporter: unbelievable.

it was like hugo chavez's evita moment. he was on the balcony, waving the flag. what he seemed to be saying was this was vindication for almost 14 years of rule. i want you to hear him as he relishes this victory. >> translator: more than 8 million compatriots voted for the revolution. they voted for socialism. they voted for independence. they voted for the greatness of venezuela. >> reporter: you know, underscoring what chavez was saying, though, was quite a respectable showing from the opposition. this is the closest that chavez has come to being challenged. i say, he threw everything including the kitchen sink at this campaign, i mean it. using public funds, petrol dollars to give away free homes to refrigerators. and for the public here, it seemed to be enough. >> everyone in the u.s. wants to know, what about us? chavez has been a thorn in our

side for foreign policy for well over ten years. what does this election, albeit by a closer margin, mean for the u.s., you think? >> reporter: well, two things. i went to a press conference with hugo chavez. he seems to be moderating his tone. saying he would vote for barack obama if he was in the united states. but he called barack obama rational. perhaps he will stop using the united states as a villain in all this and will try to keep his country on sound financial footing. 9% of gas in the united states comes from venezuela. their production in how many barrels going lower and lower physician t for the last ten years. we cannot see shocks from the gas in venezuela. hopefully, they're able to get their act together in terms of their oil industry. >> paula newton, live in caracas. it was quite a night.

it is 17 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. >> columbus day chill. millions of people waking up this morning to very low temperatures, hovering around the freezing mark. check out this herd of elk enjoying the first snow of the season near denver. 88 cities saw record low temperatures. today, frost and freeze advisories extend from texas all the way to upstate new york. mitt romney gives what's billed as a major speech on foreign policy today, as we count down to election day. he'll deliver his remarks at the virginia institute in lexington, virginia. president obama, meanwhile, is on a campaign and fund-raising swing in california today. major drug busts for two coast guard cutters off of florida. officers seized an estimated $38 million in cocaine and marijuana from smugglers. smugglers dumped bails

overboard. but officers fished it out of the water. new york yankees beating the orioles to take a 1-0 lead in the division series. the bombers' bats, waking up in the ninth inning for the 7-2 victory. and yankees' ace, c.c. sabathia threw a gem. coming up one out short of a complete game. the cincinnati reds are one win away from playing for a pennant. they crushed the giants behind bronson arroyo, who gave up a single hit. >> america loves bronson arroyo as a member of the 2004 red sox championship team. fyi. >> if you're keeping score, berman is a red sox fan. only opportunity he gets to say that. it's time for your early reads. the local news making headlines. first, from mj.com. shocking lapses at newark international airport.

according to an internal transportation security administration document, newark security screeners did standard pat-downs of passengers properly just 16% of the time. in no cases, 0%, did they properly inform passengers of their right to opt out of a full-body scan in favor of a pat-down. the screener evaluations were done by out of town tsa employees, nicknamed secret shoppers. >> it doesn't get much lower than 0%. 0% is fairly low. this, from the daily item in lynn, massachusetts. a boston woman is $114,000 richer after a junk dealer found a stack of old savings bonds when he was cleaning out her late mother's home. wow. here's the moment she got the good news. >> in the envelope, there was $22,250 in savings bonds. okay? at today's value, with interest,

$113,954. >> that's a bonus, with the boston accent there. that was thrown in for free. look how excited she is. that is such great news. one family member called this a gift from heaven. >> aw. i wonder if she is wintering -- is it true? >> you have to save your boxes. who knows what's in the attic. for an expanded look at the top stories, head to our blog. i hope you enjoyed it while it lasted because experts say this year's stock market surge is over. >> say it ain't so. >> we'll tell you why it is so, coming up. ♪

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we're minding your business this morning. and u.s. stock futures are down. >> third-quarter earnings season kicks off this week. but people are talking about the jobs report. >> i know. >> it was so confusing. >> 7.8% is the unemployment rate. but only 114,000 jobs created. it's two, separate surveys that the government takes. and a lot of social media speculation about how those two numbers could be so different. but all of the economists we talked to, everyone who is trusted in the field of economics, says it's a statistical anomaly, not funny business. but 7.8% is the number for the unemployment rate. i want to talk about stocks. there's a survey of economists for cnn money, that says the

stock market rally may be over. and here's why. you had a really great year. and these economists, investment strategists, money managers, 37 of them, say after a healthy year, they expect stocks will close, the s&p 500, right where it is. at 1440. they're not saying get out of stocks. if you're getting in right now, a great part of the run has already happened. a couple of things you have to worry about. the fiscal cliff, something i talk about all the time. presidential election, european debt crisis, these are things on the horizon. some economists and money managers will tell you they're bullish. and they think the fiscal cliff will get resolved. through the election, you could see stocks move up. the fed is pushing a lot of money into the system. $40 billion a month, i think. that's going into the markets. want to tell you about an interesting saga of chinese telecoms. something we've been following for several years.

some big telecom companies from china, a congressional report, we've seen a draft of a congressional report to be released today, that will say that these telecom companies should not be allowed to expand in the united states. and here's why. because of cyber espionage. concerns about what these china-tied companies could do to the american economy. china has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes. congress has been aware of some of the concerns for a long time. chinese companies aren't like american companies or big multinationals that their most important job is to be tied to and promote the best things for china, not necessarily their shareholders. this is how the company huawei responds. a gobelly trusted company,

including nationwide carriers across every continent, save antarctica. the security and integrity of our products have been proven. these are facts, political agendas aside. they say it's not true. but a house intelligence committee says, we don't think they should be allowed to expand in the u.s. >> a fight worth watching. >> oh, yes. 28 minutes past the hour. gone in six seconds. coming up, a crash on the last turn of the last lap, takes out almost the entire field at talledega. >> wow. [ female announcer ] born from the naturally sweet monk fruit, something this delicious could only come from nature. now from the maker of splenda sweeteners, discover nectresse. the only 100% natural, no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. the rich, sweet taste of sugar. nothing artificial. ♪ it's all that sweet ever needs to be.

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this just in. a brand-new presidential poll. we'll break down the new neck and neck figures for you. bill o'reilly and jon stewart go where the candidates would never, ever, ever, ever dare go. it is an american comeback story. cnn gets up close and personal with the once-endangered crocodiles. >> up close and personal, did you say? >> alive and well in florida. welcome back to "early start", everyone. >> we're happy you're with us this morning. we have a brand-new snapshot of the presidential race out minutes ago. it's good news for mitt romney. he did get a debate bounce. brand-new polls show the two candidates in a dead-heat at 47%. romney, reracing the gap.

paul steinhauser joins us from washington. these are new. break them down for us? >> let's go back to the screen you were showing. when are we going to see polls? here we go. go back to the screen you had up there. you see what gallup did. those are the numbers on the three days prior to the presidential debate. on the right, the numbers on the three days after the debate. this is the first real nonpartisan live operator national poll we've seen since the debate on wednesday in denver. a five-point advantage for the president before the debate. and dead-heat after. gallup is a seven-day tracking poll. add it together and you saw the president with a 49%-46% advantage. that's within the sampling error. two other things, this is among registered voters, not of likely voters. most polling has moved to the likely voter model, which is narrower. go to the next screen. i want to show you. gallup, like a bunch of debate

watchers. ours was the debate watchers of all americans. and a similar story. republicans overwhelmingly thought that mitt romney won the debate. and you see independents thought so, as well. and democrats by a slight majority. those numbers were mixed up. i think i gave them to you wrong there. the story line is the same thing. that mitt romney won the debate. one thing i'll say. these are national numbers. the first. we'll see a lot more over the next few days from other polling organizations. but also, the state numbers matter, as well. we're going to see those, as well, because this is a battle for states and their electoral votes. you have a poll from colorado where the debate was held. and that indicates the president with a small advantage in the sampling error. >> i know you got the swing states for us. we're going to clean up the numbers and share them with everybody. president obama is coming off the heels of a lackluster debate performance. and he was poking fun of himself in los angeles, as well.

>> these guys -- everybody here, incredible professionals. they're such great friends. and they just performed flawlessly. night after night. i can't always say the same. >> so, he's trying to change things around, right? >> he is trying to change things around. we're hearing that from his campaign, as well. and from the president. the other theme we're getting from the president and his campaign, they say mitt romney wasn't very truthful in that first presidential debate. he walked away from some of his long standing policies. here's david axelrod, senior adviser to the president. he was on the sunday talk shows. >> i think he was a little taken aback at the brazenness with which governor romney walked away from so many of the positions on which he's run. walked away from his record. and you know, that's something we're going to have to make an adjustment for in these subsequent debates. >> both candidates getting ready for the second presidential showdown.

not this week, the following week. going to be at hofstra university. i think our own candy crowley will be moderating. we're going to see a different, a more aggressive barack obama. >> we have the vice presidential debate coming up, as well. we'll talk about that next time. thank you, paul. we appreciate it. other news, now, today. new clues in the search for a missing girl in colorado. police say they found 10-year-old jessica ridgeway's backpack and water bottle six miles from her home. investigators searched for jessica. she disappeared friday morning after leaving home to meet friends. nascar burned into bumper cars. look at the last lap of sunday's race. a massive wreck involving 25 cars. veteran drivers say they have never seen anything like this. tony stewart is taking the blame for triggering that incredible crash. every one walked away without

injury. when the exhaust fumes all cleared, matt kenseth won the race. >> this is why people watch nascar. a record 48-straight games with a touchdown pass for saints quarterback drew brees. he threw four of them, as the saints won their first game of the season. brees broke the record held by hall of famer john unitas. >> johnny unitas, one of the greatest quarterbacks to play this game. revolutionized the position. everything he stood for as a player. just a pioneer of the game. >> coaches sean payton and mickey loomis, were allowed to attend the game. in this programming note, drew brees will be a guest wednesday morning on "starting point." mark that in your calendar. get ready for that. the conservative commentator takes on the comedian.

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it was being billed as a rumble in a temperature-controlled room, with a wrestling belt as a prize. and when bill o'reilly and comedian jon stewart met on saturday, there were plenty of jokes to be had. take a listen. >> i've come here tonight, to plea to the mayor of [ bleep ] mountain. talk to your people. >> this man -- this man over here, has offended every, single american. are you going to stand there -- are you sitting or standing? and what would you like for christmas, little boy? >> if you could see any american

elected president, who would you choose and why? >> i'd say clint eastwood would have to be my guy. >> well, why don't we ask him. >> what do you think is the most fundamental problem with the public political discourse? >> stewart. >> all right. lots of laughs, obviously. but was there substance? christopher john farrelly is the senior director and digital features editor for "the wall street journal." he spoke to o'reilly in the leadoff to the debate. how seriously did they take this? >> he said he didn't care who won. it was a big thing, for charity. he wanted to win. he wanted to score some points. he wanted to make a good showing of himself versus jon stewart. and depending on which side you favor, there's lots to say for either side. >> there was some substance.

they did discuss health care. i want to listen to what they had there. >> you have the private insurance companies. however, they have mandates. they can't throw you off if you're sick. they have to keep -- >> did you say mandates? >> yes. mandates. the government has an oversight capacity. doesn't take it over. >> i would decouple it fr work. i would make sure that employers are not responsible for the health care. what that would do is free people up to have more mobility in changing jobs, in not worrying about illness putting them in bankruptcy. and all of those situations we're in now. >> a strikingly substancetive discussion there. >> the problem with presidential debates is people are running for president. they're not running for anything. they can say whatever they want to say. they can talk about the issues. they don't have to worry about alienating some voters. alienating some people. they can speak their minds

freely and make jokes about it. that's what made this debate much more entertaining than most the presidential debates, you end up watching. >> what do you think the whole point was here? >> they wanted to discuss some of the issues. they wanted to raise money for charity. that was their agenda. even though there were lots of jokes on saturday night, watching this debate. the biggest joke of all was trying to watch the debate. people have major problems trying to log on to see what these guys had to say. i had problems logging on. it was available on demand. i could see the entire thing. but people are planning parties around this. they invited people over. they decided, okay, saturday night, i'm going to watch o'reilly and stewart go at it. and it's like going to the theater and finding out the doors were locked. >> that's happened to me, by the way. who won? >> it's hard to say who won. i think that jon stewart is one of the funniest comedians out there. so, i think a lot of people will -- he was able to really score joke after joke in a way that o'reilly couldn't. but o'reilly is a straight

shooter by people more conservative. a lot of people thought he came out on top. >> and bill o'reilly is a lot taller. thank you for watching for us. senior editorial of "the wall street journal" and digital editor. coming up, to catch a croc. capturing a rare species to save it from extinction. [ female announcer ] ready for a taste of what's hot? check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls.

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welcome back to "early start." a alligators may get most of the attention on tv nature shows. but crocodiles are making a comeback. cnn's john zarrella is following this story. >> reporter: this is the statewide call center. ladies are taking calls about alligators and occasionally a call about a crocodile. usually when you think of florida, you think alligators. but now, its narrow-snouted cousin, the american crocodile, is making a comeback. >> okay. you have a crocodile complaint. what county are you in? you're in dade county. >> the southern tip of florida is the northern periphery of its range. it occurs in the caribbean, mexico, central america and northern south america. >> reporter: once endangered,

the crocodile population here has grown from about 200 in the 1970s to around 2,000 today. but with increasing reports of crocodiles roaming in residential areas, some folks are uneasy about their new neighbors. >> people often mistake our crocodiles for the crocodiles they see on the tv shows. we don't have a lot of experience from bites of american crocodiles. none have bitten anybody in florida. >> reporter: the american crocodile remains threatened in florida and endangered in other countries. so, it's illegal to killing them, making educating the public key to their survival. >> we hope people would be understanding about co-existing with these native animals. >> reporter: down in the southern tip of florida, the canals of florida power & light's power plant have been a safe haven for crocodiles since about 1978, with about 400

living here now. turkey point, in addition to refuges in everglades national park and crocodile lake has been essential for the species recovery. people work to make sure that crocodiles are here to stay. >> this is a really good example of a nesting habitat. >> reporter: each year, the turkey point croc team goes out to find nests and tag newborns with microchips. this gives each new crocodile an i.d., and helps them keep track of how the species is progressing. >> if we protect the crocodiles, we're protecting a whole number of species, some of which are threatened. >> reporter: then, the hard work begins as the sun sets. they're going to see up close how the crocodiles are doing. >> i see him.

let's do it. >> now, we have to get it tired. >> reporter: they carefully get the crocodile on to their boat. and check its vital signs. >> it's good. this is almost a two-point meter crock. and a female. >> 12.0 kilograms. sweet. this is a pristine animal. this is a female that's a breeder. breedible size at this point. >> reporter: as florida continues its efforts to save this species, this crocodile is a sign of hope that she and other crocodiles will be able to call this state home for a long time to come. >> that's croc. >> reporter: john zarrella, cnn, miami. >> i know better that the crocodiles are back in florida.

safer. it's a happier morning. >> did you see one right in front of a garage. can you imagine? 52 after the hour. we have a packed show ahead on "early start," including setting the stage for the vice presidential showdown. going head-to-head in round two of the debates. the stakes might be higher after what unfolded in round one. we're joined by diane black, a romney supporter who works with paul ryan in the house. also, the man behind the 2012 video, speaking to oprah. talking about his naked meltdown on the street and the pressures of viral fame. plus, the country's obesity problem now. a matter of national security? we'll speak to the army recruit who shed 160 pounds to get into the army. first, towers of strength. amazing pictures of people banding together to build human castles. inspiration.

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welcome back to "early start." it is 57 minutes past the hour. looking at what is trending on the web this morning. >> trying to, aleast. incredible images out of spain. a sea of people, and human towers rising from it. thousands of spectators packed into an old bull ring as hundreds of people built incredible human towers. they climb over and over and on top of each other. >> why? >> this is a tradition. this is the 24th annual competition. with ingenuity like this, they will be able to get out of their

debt crisis. here's another big why, right? going for shock value, david blaine is at it again. this time, spending three days standing in the middle of a million volts of electricity, wearing a 27-pound chain male suit. they are shooting bolds of electricity through him. all of that voltage is going through his suit, not his body. and this is completely safe. >> this looks like an awesome idea. >> why don't you try it. >> you would like to see it. the last word on president obama's barely-there debate performance, coming from "saturday night live." >> you have to hand it to mitt romney because president obama sure did. many political experts were surprised that during wednesday's debate, president

obama failed to mention mitt romney's infamous 47% comment. president obama took the high road, forgetting that that road, leads to building houses with jimmy carter. more than 70 million people watch wednesday's debate on tv, online, or from one of the podiums. [ laughter ] fox news. when that thing ended, you must have looked at each other and said, i think we can report this one exactly as it happened. when i turned over to post the big coverage, i expected to see sean hannity getting a gatorade show. loser, michelle obama. it must be tough to look at your husband taking a beating on your anniversary. you went in thinking you're going home with blane. but you went home with ducky. is there anything more exciting about joe biden thinking it's up to him to get the lead back? it's tebow time. >> you can watch that thursday

night, right here on cnn. >> no need to tivo. "early start" continues right now. it's freezing. a blast of shattering records across the country. >> this man is in rare form this morning. ladies and gentlemen, blasting off to a new era of space flight right now, a commercial spacecraft rockets towards the international space station. >> and this is amazing. you can hear someone yell, they just decked the bride. >> oh, my gosh. >> this is a wedding video to remember for all the wrong reasons. a wild booze-fuelled brawl breaks out in front of the bride. it is all caught on camera. >> it's really terrible. it ended with a death. it's terrible. >> tell you all about it. good morning and welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 6:00 a.m. in the east and we begin with weather. bone-chilling cold, three weeks before halloween. a dramatic drop in temperatures

over the weekend. >> this cold snap gripping about two-thirds of the country. dozens of cities saw record lows, including sioux city, iowa, at 15 degrees, scotts bluff, nebraska, 21 and grand junction, colorado, a new low of 30 and tulsa, oklahoma scraping the freezing mark at 32 degrees. >> i don't have the props you had earlier today, a calendar that says october. apparently there is a little light or warmth at the end of the tunnel this week. alexandria steele is live in the extreme weather center. john earlier today had that big calendar pointing at october. what is going on with these extreme cold temperatures? >> yeah. you know we're two and a half months away from winter and we are going to see a light, some warmth. this is about as low as it's going to go today for the southeast and eastern seaboard and we will warm up a little bit. here's a look. record low high temperatures yesterday. we had about 150 saturday and sunday. st. louis, 51 degrees.

u should be well warmer than that. 68. in dallas, texas, only the low 50s, you should be at 78. temperatures on the whole between about 15 and 25 degrees below average. freeze fro, you can see it throughout much of the country from texas through the ohio valley. here we're running in ohio about a week and a half earlier than their normal average first freeze. everything coming a little earlier. coldest air thus far we saw it starting in the beginning of the week about four or five days ago in the northern plains, drop south and eastward. here in the southeast, 20 to 30 below but here's the light. in the next six to ten days, climatology we will be above average for the balance of the country. so taking a look today in the 50s in the northeast, 60s in the southeast and today really the coldest of the cold. temperatures you can see warming up to 60 by wednesday, 65 in new york by wednesday, and around 70 degrees wednesday in philadelphia. everyone warming up today kind of bottoming out and then warming up from here. >> that's a little good news.

>> yeah. it's just uncalled for. going on now it's uncalled for. >> he's outraged over this. thanks. a new poll shows good news for mitt romney. not so good news for president obama. the gallup poll shows the race is now tied. each candidate getting 47%. but a closer look shows a bounce for mitt romney right after last week's debate. he picked up two points, the president lost three. so let's check in with paul steinhauser, cnn's political editor, live in washington. earlier i said this was a brand new poll. it is not a brand new poll but we are now dissecting the numbers, is that right? >> yeah. the tracking poll came out on sunday but what they did -- go back to that screen, they broke it down. it's a seven-day tracking poll. on the left, those are the numbers prior to the debate. the 50 to 45%. that's the president -- >> there they are. >> that's the president with a five-point advantage within the sampling era three days leading up to the right. the right, three days after the

debate. this is among registered voters, gallup's tracking poll, polls registered voters. a lot of the other polls move to a smaller, more narrow likely voter model. couple things about the numbers, the national polls were tightening up even before the first presidential debate so i guess this extenuates that trend. we're going to see a lot more polling over the next few days, both nationally and in states. here's another number from the gallup poll, of people who watched the debate and take a look at this. just like our cnn/orc poll after the debate, most americans and we break it down by party here and gallup most americans thought mitt romney won that debate. even among democrats, a plurality there. >> everybody. >> said mitt romney won the debate. how about the states. remember the battle for the white house is not a battle nationally but for the states and their electoral votes. from the university of denver the same place that hosted that debate last wednesday night. this is a poll post-debate of colorado likely voters, the president with a slight advantage within the sampling

error. >> don't you remember we were talking before the debates, will it matter, will the debates matter? apparently the answer this time is yes. >> from the gallup poll. one poll. see what others show as well. >> you have a lot more you're going to be sharing with us in the coming days. so the stakes are high now for president biden going into thursday's one and only debate with paul ryan. what are the expectations from both sides here? >> both sides are trying to lower expectations for their candidate. we heard it on the sunday talk shows like they're doing for the presidential debate. there is a lot more i think at stake in the vice presidential debate on thursday because of the president's what you could say would be lackluster performance in the first presidential debate. vice president biden/paul ryan, both talking about their upcoming showdown. take a listen. >> i'm looking forward to it. i really am. the thing about congressman ryan is he's been straightforward up to now about everything he is -- all the significant changes he wants to make. we have a fundamentally

different view on a whole range of issues. >> we think he's probably going to come at me like a cannonball. more pressure, because mitt romney put such a great performance that the bar is pretty high. also pressure because joe biden has been doing this for 40 years. the man ran for president twice. he's a sitting vice president. this is my first time on this kind of a stage. >> the president didn't bring up the 47% or bain capital in this key bait. maybe vice president biden brings it up for ryan. >> aren't the expectations higher for biden? >> it indicated more people thought ryan would win the debate over biden. ryan is known as a numbers guy, the house budget chairman. >> mitt romney will deliver a big foreign policy speech this morning. you have excerpts for us i understand. >> the campaign put them out a few hours ago. virginia military institute, a big foreign policy speech what they're togethuting. one of the things that mitt romney will say --

similar language to what we've heard from mitt romney on the campaign trail criticizing the president he says not being muscular enough for defending the ney and its allies. >> paul steinhauser, live in washington, d.c., thank you. coming up at half past the hour live to congresswoman diane black, a tennessee republican and surrogate for mitt romney's campaign who works with paul ryan on the budget committee. a reminder, the only vice presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, takes place this thursday. you can watch it live at 7:00 eastern on cnn. and always on cnn.com. >> the only up with. you will not want to miss it. >> seven minutes after the hour. aaa says the national price for gallon of regular unleaded $3.82. governor jerry brown taking emergency measures to ease the pump in california, prices have spiked to $4.66 a gallon. that's the highest level because

of refinery outages and supply chain problems. governor brown is calling for an increase in supply and early switch to a winter blend fuel. a man guy dyes of a heart attack after an all-out brawl between two wedding parties. philadelphia police say a fight was brewing between guests in one party but there was also tension with members of another party. they say the brawl broke out at the bar as you're seeing right there. two men were cited for disorderly conduct. a third man, the one police hit with a batton in this video is still in jail. a 57-year-old man reported to be the uncle of the bride died of a heart attack shortly after that fight. >> video is honestly shocking. >> all right. outbreak growing. this story is disconcerting also. the number of fungal meningitis cases jumps to 91 and health officials say the outbreak is far from other than. seven people have died. investigators in massachusetts trying to find preet sis source of the outbreak at the facility where potentially tainted

steroid injections were made. a new era for nasa and space flight in america. >> three, two, one. and liftoff, liftoff. >> for the first time a commercially owned rocket blasted off from cape canaveral, florida, hoisting into space a capsule loaded with supplies for the international space station. last night's launch is the first of a dozen flights that nasa has contracted with commercial carriers to ferry cargo to the space station. an nfl record that stood for 52 years, is now history. saints quarterback drew brees threw for four touchdown passes last night as the saints won for the first time this season as they beat the san diego chargers. drew brees broke johnny unitas's mark with a touchdown pass, 40 straight games in a row. >> i think the amazing thing about a record like this, it spans over the course of really four seasons.

and hopefully we can keep it going for a while. >> zoraida says drew brees has a great game. brees shared the moment with sean paytoand gm mickey loomis. they were allowed to attend the game. all three were suspended for the bounty scandal. this programming note, drew brees will bring his great game here later this week, he will be a live guest on "early start." -- on "starting point." >> you can fill in the blanks. today the voters have spoken in what was a huge test of political power for venezuela's hugo chavez. we go live to caracas coming up. ♪... ♪...

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welcome back be to "early start." 13 minutes after the hour. glad you're with us. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. the closest thing to a nail-biter hugo chavez has seen. he won a third term as venezuela as president. analysts say the results are telling that chavez is weaker politically in venezuela. and there are persistent unanswered questions about his health as well. whether chavez is healthy enough to complete another six years in office. supporters marking the victory with fire works and a celebration outside the balcony of the presidential palace. senior international correspondent paula newton has been following the vote and joins us live from caracas. can you set the scene for us? >> you know, it was incredible. we had election restrictions on us, but even before, i would say about an hour before the results

came out, the entire sky behind us lit up with fireworks, people were on the streets really celebrating. on the other hand this is the day after the night before and there are tough financial questions facing this question. you wouldn't know it listening to hugo chavez. hear him now pretty as he was having his evita moment on the balcony last night, not giving an inch to the opposition at all. take a listen. >> translator: more than 8 million compatriots voted for the revolution. they voted for socialism. they voted for independence. they voted for the greatness of venezuela. >> reporter: you know, the greatness of venezuela, this is definitely fuel by petrol profits. we talked about it before, he used every apparatus in this state to make sure he won in this election, even 10%, the margin hewon by, did do quite a job here. there is a the lot of intimidation here at times. some people feel their vote

can't be kept secret, get more than 6 million people to walk to the polls to vote for a change in venezuela is still a big deal. you mentioned how he says he's cured of cancer but you take a look at him he doesn't seem like he ae's doing all that well and didn't have the stamina through this campaign than others. >> there were a lot of troops on standby, about 140,000. were there any problems? >> no problems. i think many people, opposition or government, is saying that is a true victory for venezuela. there was tension throughout this country thoshno, missing t. this was a transparent election, free and fair, and so far, fingers crossed a few hours afterwards no tensions to be recorded. that is a significant step forward for venezuela. >> we don't have a lot of time here but what does this re-election mean for the united states? >> we talk about gas prices every morning. this country needs to get its act together. 9% of the oil from here goes to

the united states helps keep a steady flow of crude into the united states. this country could produce a heck of a lot more oil if it would get its act together. member of opec, largest proven reserves in the world. enough said. that's what will affect our gas prices going forward. >> paula newton, live in caracas, thank you very much. >> 16 minutes after the hour. lot of news want to get you up to speed on the headlines. here's christine romans with that. >> chilly start to the columbus day holiday. millions waking up to low temperatures hovering around the freezing mark. check out this hurd of elk enjoying the first snow of the season near denver over the weekend. >> sweet. >> you don't see in most of the country. 88 cities saw a record low temperatures yesterday. today frost and freeze advisories extend from texas to upstate new york. the countdown to election day is on, 29 days to go and there's a brand new snapshot of the race. mitt romney getting a big debate bounce in a new gallup poll. the survey showing the race is

tied at 47%, a five-point lead for president obama gone. two scientists are sharing the nobel prize in medicine. great britain's john burden and japan's shinja yam na knack ka. they discovered mature cells can be preprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all other tissue cells in the body. it shows you how, you know, people, humans, can be educated, learn, study and change the world. >> always the bridesmaid, never the bride. >> 18 minutes after the hour. you may recall the story of jason russell creator of "coney 2012" which highlights warlord joseph kony. he had a public breakdown on the streets of san diego running into traffic with no clothes on. he tells oprah winfrey in an interview that aired last night " oprah's next chapter" he was hospitalized suffering from a condition called reactive psychosis.

>> you don't go through something this traumatic, dramatic, public, and not learn a lot from it and not grow closer to your wife and to your family and to the people who are in your tribe. >> jason russell says he feels like he is on top of the world these days. nice to hear. >> good for him. it was a nice -- it was nice while it lasted. coming up why experts say this stock market surge is history. >> oh, no. >> we're going to tell you why. christine will tell you why, coming up. ♪ ♪

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minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are down signaling a lower open for stocks today. >> third quarter earnings season kicks off this week as well. people are still talking about the jobs report on friday. >> 7.8% the unemployment rate, a bigger than expected drop, but only 114,000 jobs created which isn't really that great. a lot of people talking about what this means for the race, for your ability to get a job had and the like and one more jobs report until the election. this morning i want to talk about what's happening in the stock market. because in case you live under a rock, it has been a great year for stocks, but the projections are a little more cautious, shall we say. cnn money surveyed 37 investment managers and money managers and investment advisors and the majority think the stock market

is over, 1440 is probably going to be where stocks close for the year an that's about where they are right now. so you've had a pretty good run this year. they're not saying dump out of stocks. just saying don't expect more big gains through the rest of the year. so, couple of things to worry about. the fiscal cliff they're worried about, they're worried about earnings, no question. the presidential election. the debt crisis. a couple money managers i talk to oen, they're still bullish, they say the fed is still pumping so much money into the system that will continue to be supportive for stocks and once you get the election out of the way maybe that's one had hurdle that will be gone and a hurdle to the stock market. another thing i want to talk about this morning, a congressional report on chinese telecom companies, very, very harply worded draft report that we've seen, that says these telecom companies w ashy ies hue should not be allowed to expand in the united states. the report says they could threaten our national security because of their ties to the

chinese government. they have poor records of intellectual property violations, alleged ties to iran and the committee describes a pattern and practice of potentially illegal behavior. china has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunication companies for malicious purposes. chinese huawei responds vigorously and says this is hogwash. any suggestions huawei is vulnerable to cyber mischief, recklessly threaten american jobs and innovation do nothing to protect national security, et tet rare. watch this space. seeing a u.s. government being careful about chinese investments in the u.s. >> no hogwash please. >> this is only about stocks. time to take stock in your 401(k) this year. if you're periodically rebalancing your portfolio doesn't matter what happens from here to the end of the year. doesn't matter i'm telling you. not sure how to do that. we're going to post a link to a quiz you can take to make sure you have the right mix of stocks, bonds and cash for the long haul and make sure you know how to rebalance it so you're

always getting the benefit of the moves in the market. >> that is on our blog on "early start." i'm going to do that later this morning. >> 25 minutes after the hour. coming up, gone in six seconds. a crash on the last turn of the last lap takes out almost the entire field at talladega. this was nuts. i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th, five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen.

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welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it is 29 minutes past the hour. we'll start with campaign news because in just a few hours, mitt romney will take on the president and his handling of foreign policy in a speech at the virginia military institute. and the obama campaign is already fighting back. jen psaki telling reporters we're not going to be lectured by someone who's been an unmitigated disaster on foreign policy every time he's dipped his toes in the foreign policy waters. it's a high bar he would have to jump over to convince them he's prepared to be commander in chief. culminating with paul ryan and vice president facing off for their first and only debate on thursday night. we're joined by tennessee republican congresswoman diane black, a romney supporter and also works with paul ryan on both the house budget and weighs and means committee. on that, i would like to start with numbers here. jobs numbers. a big supporter of your campaign, jack welch, sent out a

tweet on friday after the unemployment report came out showing 7.8% unemployment, and jack welch wrote unbelieve jobs numbers. these chicago guys will do anything, can't debate so change the numbers. do you stand by this comment from jack welch? do you think that the white house cooked the numbers in the jobs report? >> well look, we're just going to talk about the facts. there's 23 million americans who are unemployed. they're either looking for a job, they are giving up or underemployed. if we just look at the numbers and take that for what it's worth, and i don't know that we have to say much more about whether the numbers have been cooked or not. >> the numbers are also 7.8% unemployment the lowest since president obama was inaugurated, correct? >> well, let's take a look at those numbers and take a little deeper look and say, for those who are not looking for a job any longer, they're not in the work place. they're not in the work participation. if you were to add those to

those numbers, we'd have about 11% unemployment. look, one month of these numbers -- >> that includes people who are retired, correct? >> but let's look at those numbers a little closer again, we're looking at 43 state months of unemployment above 8%. the president himself in his own remarks during his own campaign said if he did not have this under control by this point in time he didn't deserve to have another chance at another four-year term. to that, let's take a look at the stimulus package. he said that if unemployment was -- >> just be clear, he did say it were no longer a month above 8%. we're below 8% unemployment, correct? >> he didn't use a number when he was campaigning. he just said if he did not have this situation under control. i don't consider 43 straight months of unemployment above 8% and then you have one good month after 43 straight months, that is hardly a trend. >> let's move on, again, because you are on the budget and weighs and means. i want to talk about balancing

the budget here. governor romney has called for 20% across the board tax cuts for all americans right now. what are the three deductions you would like to see reduced in order to help pay for this? >> well, i think that we can talk about the reductions or -- we can talk about those deductions or credits we already give and the three that are the most popular that i think you will see, both democrats and republicans agreeing that they should be kept and that's the child it tax credit, the credit for health care expenses and also for charitable gifts and then add a fourth one to that as the mortgage. so i think those are the four that you'll be seeing that will be probably able to agree on both sides of the aisle. >> i'm sorry, to cut or keep? to cut or to keep? >> no, those would be ones that i would say we would keep. >> so you're going to keep the mortgage tax deduction completely, because mitt romney has suggested maybe that one will be changed? >> well, his -- he's talked about that one maybe being changed for the second homes.

but that is one that's pretty popular and one that i think does help the middle-class people and i think that's one that we'll probably end up agreeing on. now there may be some changes in that and, of course, that's all negotiation that you do when you get down to the brass tacks between everybody sitting around the table. you don't want to talk about all of that in detail at this point in time because that's what negotiations are ability. >> but gosh, the brass tacks here is how the budget is going to be balanced one way or the other and if you're not willing to provide some details the american people won't get a sense of how it will be deficit neutral, will they? >> but john, let's go to what really needs to be talked about and that is, where the true debt comes from. the true debt comes from those areas that we have talked about in our budget committee, that we have passed twice now in the house and the senate has done nothing. the president brought his budget to us and i think it's very interesting that no one in his own party voted for his budget.

we've got four straight years of no budget with a president. that's -- that's unbelievable that we could have four straight years without a budget actually being passed under this president which shows me that we don't have leadership because we have put out a budget that has been passed in the house and it's a responsible budget that starts to bend the curve. >> all right. >> you've got to go to where the debt is to be able to really talk about taking care of the debt issue. >> diane black, great to see you this morning. we'll all be watching the debate thursday night. thanks for joining us this morning. >> great to be with you. thank you. >> reminder to everyone out there, this vice presidential debate only one of the 120 campaign takes place thursday, watch it live at 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn and cnn.com. 35 minutes past the hour. new clues in the search for a missing girl in colorado. police say they found 10-year-old jessica ridgeway's backpack and water bottle some six miles from her home in westminster, colorado. hundreds of volunteers spent the

weekend searching for that little girl. she disappeared friday morning after leaving home to meet friend three blocks away. >>nascar looked more like bumper cars on the final lap of sunday's race at talladega. there was a massive wreck involving 25 cars. look at this. fear for the drivers. it was triggered when driver tony stewart tried to make a move, amazingly in that big mess, no one was injured. when the exhaust smoke cleared, matt kenseth was your race winner. and make that a record 48 straight gains with a touchdown pass for saints quarterback drew breeze. he threw four last night as the saints won their first game of the season. brees broke the record held by hall of famer johnny unitas. >> this record for 52 years, johnny unitas, arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play this game, really revolutionized the position, everything that he stood for as a player, and just a pioneer of

this game. >> coaches sean peyton and jovic and mickey loomis were allowed to attend the game. all three were suspended in the saints boundary scandal. drew brees will be a guest wednesday morning on "starting point." >> 36 minutes after the hour right now. in the conservative commentator takes on the comedian. a search for substance amidst the laugh at the bill o'reilly/jon stewart mock debate. looking back, if it wasn't for shriners hospital, things would just be really, really different. i lost my leg when i was a kid. there was a time when i felt like i wasn't going to be able to walk again... it was a pretty bad accident but shriners showed me who i could be again.

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welcome back to "early start." it was billed as a rumble in a temperature controlled room with a wrestling belt as a prize. when bill o'reilly and comedian

john stewart met on saturday there were plenty of jokes to be had. take a listen. >> i have come here tonight to plead to the mayor of [ bleep ] mountain -- talk to your people. >> this man, this man over here, has offended every single american. are you going to stand there are you sitting or standing? >> and what would you like for christmas, little boy? >> if you could see any american elected president who would you choose and why? >> i would say clint eastwood would have to be my guy. >> well, why don't we ask him? >> what do you think is the most fundamental problem with the public political discourse?

>> stewart. >> but between all of the laughs there was substance. christopher john farley, a senior editorial director of digital features for "the wall street journal" and he spoke to bill o'reilly in the lead up to the debate. you were speaking earlier about the differences of a normal debate and this type. you say it all comes down to offending people. can you explain that? >> what's interesting about this debate is in political bits, of course, people are trying to score points, they're trying to run campaigns. but this is more of a comedic debate and they're just trying to talk about the issues, trying to make you laugh a little bit and i think in doing so, there's less pressure really to obscure issues, to try to lead voters to certain path. you can talk about what's really in front of you. i think people got a lot out of this debate, but they might not get out of a presidential debate because that's about the campaign. >> there were some serious moments. i want to play one and then we're going to talk about it.

>> you have the private insurance companies, however they have mandates. they can't throw you off if you're sick. they have to keep basically -- >> did you say mandates? >> yes. mandates. the government has an oversight capacity, doesn't take it over because the government is going to screw it up. >> here's what i would do from health care. i would decouple it from work. i would make sure the employers not responsible for health care, free people up to have more moblts in terms of changing jobs, ill no not putting them into bankruptcy and all those situations we're in now. >> you don't usually see comedians talking about mandates and health care in detail. before this it was a serious moment where jon stewart talked about the fact that bill o'reilly's dad, when he left the job, had gotten disability and he tried to use that to show that after you won at some point, depends on the government

to support them in some way and you shouldn't hold that against them. some real heat there. he got personal. talk about a guy's dad. that's sticking it to him. >> all right. so who won this debate in your opinion? you watched the entire thing and talked to one of the guys. what do you think? >> what i thought was great, it wasn't a winner or loser and that's what made it interesting. >> really? >> i'm going to cop out and say there's no winner or loser. people are trying to win, make the other guy lose instead of talking about the issues in front of them. here because they're decoupled it made it interesting. >> there was a loser, there was the viewer. the issues. >> if you're sitting at home saturday night watching a political debate on-line, you're socially challenged anyways. >> that's what i thought earlier. >> on top of that, you paid $4.95 and can't watch the thing you paid for that's tough. people had some problems. they say they're going try to refund money to people that want it. they haven't provided the details on how that's going to

happen. the organizers before the debate were on the hot seat because they didn't provide the service to a lot of people they said they would. >> this was done for charity. >> it was done for charity. some of the money is going to various veteran groups and also done to help support bill o'reilly who has a book out called "killing kennedy" and able to get a plug in for it as deet bait was going on. >> senior editorial director, digital features, "wall street journal" thank you for being with us. john, back to you. >> 45 minutes after the hour. want to get you up to speed on the top stories. frosty pumpkins, millions of people waking up to low, low temperatures hovering around the freezing mark. many seen their first snow of the season already and it is only columbus day. no way to celebrate columbus day. that's a strange sight in places like fargo. 88 cities saw record low temperatures yesterday, but things are expected to warm up later this week. venezuelan president hugo chavez is keeping his job. he endured the strongest political challenge of his career but did win a third team.

supporters are marking the victory outside the presidential palace. there are questions about whether chavez who h rebounded from cancer is healthy enough to complete another six years in office jo the fungal meningitis outbreak is not letting up. the number of cases jumped to at least 91 and officials say the outbreak is far from over. seven people have died and investigators in massachusetts are trying to figure out the precise source of the outbreak at the facility where potentially tainted steroid injections were made. >> so scary. the new york yankees beating their division rivals the baltimore orioles to take a 1-0 lead in the division series. the bombers bats waking up in the ninth inning for the 7-2 victory and yankees ace cc sabathia threw a gem. coming up just one out short of a complete game. in the national league, the cincinnati reds are one win away from playing a pennant. they crushed the giants 9-0 behind bronson arroyo who gave

up a single hit in seven innings. >> good for bronson arroyo. happy for him. >> thank you for asking, a lot is happening, as the elebs gets closer the stakes get higher. mitt romney preparing to hit president obama hard on foreign policy today. the vp nominees also getting ready for their showdown, that's going to happen on thursday when they have their debate. we're going to talk this morning to a photographer as they captured the images behind the scenes, get some insider details about what happens at those deba debates. from vows to violence a wedding turns into an all-out brawl. will you look at that. that's what happens when people have a little too much to drink. we'll tell you what went wrong straight ahead. it's called columbus day, obviously, should it be called something else? we're going to take a look at the campaign to try to change the name of today's holiday to exploration day. >> i think is should be column bo day in honor of peter faulk. >> i think exploration day will never stick. >> no. i agree with you. >> we'll see you then.

>> 47 minutes after the hour. uncle sam said had he was too big for boot camp but our next guest refused to take no for an answer. something up, we'll speaks to the determined recruit who shed 160 pounds to get into the army. amazing. look at him. he looks great. diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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a report out by group of senior retired military leaders

says one in four americans is too overweight it to serve in the military. the group mission readiness calls childhood obesity a national security issue. recruiters told our next guest he was too overweight to serve so kevin lost 160 pounds, 160 pounds, so he could enlist in the army. kevin joins me right now. kevin, i have to say you look fantastic. thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> also by the way, you're 34 years old here. you know, you're barely -- you're almost too old to make the cutoff. why on earth did you want to do this? you have to cut your hair, by the way. >> oh. well, what little i have left, right? no. i wanted to do it because when i was younger my family has as lot of respect for the military and my younger brother is in and it was shocking he's doning? i've always talked about doing and that was un -- one of the major reasons for me. >> you hear 160 pounds, that's a big headline, you lost 160 pounds, we have photos that

illustrate how you did it over time, that's you before you lost the weight, you know. we have other shots over time to show how you drop steadily. oh, man. like i said, you look great now. what are your secrets? >> well i worked with a company called slim fit and they showed me what i was doing wrong. the four key ingredients to losing weight for me was first you obviously have to want to do it and enough that you'll write down what you're eating. that's probably the big key. the second one is the exercise and the third is getting into a steady routine. >> are you sure you can keep the weight off? you're about to go to boot camp which i understand is not easy. you're sure your body has adjusted after the weight loss and can handle it? yeah. the longest i've -- i'm up to where i can run up to five miles or 40 minutes. so, i think that's pretty much when you're able to do that i think you're pretty much able to handle it. >> the military says this study

we cited says 25% of young americans are too overweight to serve. as a new recruit is this something that concerns you? >> yes. i've seen a lot of guys come had in and that's a problem, that you'll see -- i'm able to outperform guys in their 20s and furthermore, i would like to point out, unlike the battery of tests you have to take to determine what job you're in, a lot of younger people are not scoring high at all and it's troubling. it is getting better. a future soldiers program that's helping e younger recruits. >> level with me, what's your biggest fear heading into boot camp? >> my biggest fear is because i'm so old, that people might expect certain things of me they might not of a younger recruit and i'm worried i'll let somebody down or something like that. >> you'll assure people you may be old but you are, in fact, immature. that's your story. >> you've seen the poses, right? >> it's great to see you.

congratulations on all that weight loss. you're an inspiration to all of us. >> thank you. >> he lost 160 pounds to enlist in the army. amazing. now we have some other advice coming up. this one coming from the governor of the great state of connecticut. what dan maloy says coming up. [ ja ne't ] i test-drove the camry se sport limited edition. [ man ] and what did you think? i loved it. why? 'cause it's a toyota, of course! i want a car that's gonna last me for a little while. ♪ i like the bells and whistles. that's my favorite part about the car. i like the navigation. i like the entune. and it's fast. [ male announcer ] see ja ne't's story and more at the camry effect. from toyota. ♪

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took hours to work or made me drowsy. after allegra, i have the only 24-hour medicine that's both fast and non-drowsy. after allegra, i have it all. welcome back. 58 minutes past the hour. >> as always we wrap it up with best advice. here's christine. >> today's best advice from connecticut governor dan maloy. we asked him the best advice he ever received. this is what he told us. >> my mother said to me every day she was alive i had an obligation to leave the world a

better place. >> the fact that he took that advice and became governor dan maloy is severely dyslexic, so dyslexic he has a hard time reading speeches outloud. he memorizes them. he has gone so far and achieved so much. he is, you know, if you love him or hate him as a democrat or republican or whatever, he's an inspiration. >> that's a great story. >> that's all for "early start." "early start" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> our starting point, freezing temperatures and snow. fall has just started. is relief from the cold in sight? >> next january we will watch him leave the white house for the last time. >> mitt romney prepares to hammer president obama in a key foreign policy speech today. >> we think he's going to come at me like a cannonball. more pressure because mitt romney put such a great perfore